Most people brush their teeth every day and in many instances, several times a day. Typically, a person uses a toothbrush and applies toothpaste thereto by squeezing it from a tube. There are known prior art toothbrushes which include a reservoir for retaining toothpaste and either pump or manual means for dispensing the toothpaste from the reservoir and onto the bristles. Examples of such prior art are U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,765 to Kuo entitled Dentrifice Dispensing Toothbrush (pump means to dispense toothpaste) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,257 to Martin entitled Toothpaste Dispensing Toothbrush (piston employed to dispense toothpaste).
One disadvantage of the prior art devices is that the toothpaste must first be dispensed out of the toothpaste tube in which it was purchased, and into the reservoir before the toothpaste may be dispensed onto the bristles. The process of filling an onboard reservoir with toothpaste can be cumbersome and messy. As such, it would be advantageous to provide a toothbrush which dispenses toothpaste which is attached to a tube of toothpaste.
There are other disadvantages of known prior-art toothbrushes. When a person is sick, the present method of dispensing toothpaste from a tube of toothpaste onto a toothbrush furthers the risk that germs or pathogens may be passed from the bristles of the brush back to the family tube of toothpaste, risking the spread of disease to others in the family or others who may utilize the same tube of toothpaste.
Yet another disadvantage of the present toothbrush technology is that two hands are required to dispense toothpaste from a tube onto the toothbrush. In other words, typically, a user holds the toothpaste tube in one hand, while spreading toothpaste onto the prior art toothbrush held in the other hand. This may be a hardship, especially to those who may have limited use of their hands, or only have the use of one hand. As such, the present toothbrush technology may be difficult to employ for disabled persons or wounded veterans of the armed forces.
A further disadvantage of the prior art is that a user may use a toothbrush past the time where it is most effective. It is well known that the effectiveness of the bristles is diminished over time. Yet, a user may not be aware that the toothbrush is beyond its term of peak effectiveness and continue to use the toothbrush even though it is less effective.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a toothbrush that provides an integrated tube of toothpaste with a means to dispense toothpaste onto the bristles. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a device with a toothbrush that is attached to a tube of toothpaste thereby obviating the need and the mess of an onboard toothpaste reservoir. Moreover, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a toothbrush which further includes a switch in the nature of a valve to stem the flow of toothpaste through its dispensing aperture in order to store the toothpaste without leakage. It is another objective of the present invention to provide a toothbrush that is easily utilized with one hand. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that reduces the risk of germ spread from the toothbrush to a community-used tube of toothpaste. It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toothbrush that the user throws away along with the empty tube of toothpaste, thereby alleviating the problem of utilizing a toothbrush whose bristles are no longer at the peak of effectiveness.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, will become apparent to those skilled in the art of custom vehicle fabrication upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.